January 9, 2025, 94, Mount Olive —
Dr. Michael Riley Pelt passed away peacefully on Thursday, January 9, 2025, at Brookdale Senior Living in Goldsboro, North Carolina. He was a long-time Mount Olive resident.
Dr. Pelt was born in Jackson County, Florida on December 8, 1930, to Cary Joseph Pelt and Georgia Sellars Pelt. He graduated from Marianna High School in Marianna, Florida. He attended Chipola Junior College and Florida State University, and graduated with a Bachelor degree from Troy State University, where he met his wife, Betty Ethridge Pelt. Dr. Pelt received a Master in Divinity and a PhD in Philosophy from Duke University.
Dr. Pelt was ordained as a minister in 1950, and served many Original Free Will Baptist churches in Florida and North Carolina. He worked with Mount Olive College as professor and Chairman of the Humanities Department from 1957 until his retirement in 1994. He was a former member of the Mount Olive Jaycees and the Mount Olive Exchange Club, where he enjoyed serving his community.
He is survived by his wife of 71 years, Betty Ethridge Pelt; a son, Cary L. Pelt; and daughters, Sharon Pelt Roach (Hal), and Julie Pelt Coates (Terry); his grandchildren, William Pelt (Jennifer), Michael Roach (Kaitlyn), Taylor Coates (Kala), Brittany Coates Gose (Anthony), and Meredith Roach Keller (Jacob); his great-grandchildren, Makayla Pelt, Addison Coates, Kinsley Pearsall, Paisley Pelt, Hadley Gose, Lenni Kate Coates, Poppy Roach, and Violet Roach; and a sister, Jeanette Pelt Townsend. He also leaves behind many nieces and nephews.
Dr. Pelt was preceded in death by his parents and siblings, Julian, Chester, Daniel, Katie, Lourene Pelt Crawford, Myrtle Pelt Stanko, Jim, and Bonnie Pelt Hall; and a daughter Teresa Pelt Grubbs.
Funeral services will be held Monday, January 13, at eleven o’clock in the morning in Rodgers Chapel on the Campus of the University of Mount Olive. The family will begin receiving friends at the chapel at 9:45am, until service time. Dr. David Hines, Rev. Frank Harrison, and the Rev. Ronnie Hobgood will officiate the services with burial following in the Maplewood Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, the family request considering memorial contributions directed to the Michael and Betty Pelt Endowment Foundation of Christian Ministries of NC, P.O. Box 210, Mount Olive, BC 28365. Condolences may be mailed to Mrs. Betty Pelt at Brookdale Assisted Living, 380 Country Day Road, Apt. 240, Goldsboro, NC 27530.